Release Date: 01 May 2006
Label: Naxos / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 747313270422
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: KORNGOLD
Description
Miklos Rozsa (1907-1995)The King's Thief 1955 Reconstructed by Christopher PalmerVictor Young (1900-1956)Scaramouche 1952 Reconstructed by William StrombergErich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957)Captain Blood 1935 Reconstructed by John MorganMax Steiner (1888-1971)The Three Musketeers 1935 Arranged by John MorganIt is entirely appropriate that this recording of musicfor epic adventure films should include Captain Blood(1935) because it was with that greatly successfulswashbuckler that the age of romantic symphonicmovie music in Hollywood began. Erich WolfgangKorngold, acclaimed for his operas and concert works,had arrived from Vienna the previous year to arrangeand conduct the Mendelssohn score for the WarnerBros. filming of A Midsummer Night's Dream andstudio executives were so impressed with his workthey asked him if he would be interested in writing anoriginal score for Captain Blood. Korngold wasintrigued with the idea and accepted, thus beginningone of the most influential careers in film musiccomposition.Based on Rafael Sabatini's 1922 novel, CaptainBlood is set in the brutal reign of England's KingJames II (circa 1688) and tells of a young physicianwho is falsely accused of treason and shipped off toJamaica as a slave. Peter Blood (Errol Flynn) leads arevolt among his fellow prisoners and, after seizing aship at Port Royal, becomes a pirate. By this time hehas also fallen in love with Arabella (Olivia deHavilland), niece of the Jamaican governor. Blood andhis crew plunder shipping in the Caribbean until suchtime as Blood receives a commission to serve in thenavy of King William - James having been ousted - tofight in England's war against France. After defeatinga French attack on Jamaica, Blood is elected thegovernor with Arabella his obvious bride-to-be.Captain Blood was an immediate success andmade an overnight star of young Errol Flynn. With itssweeping score, full of romantic melodies and excitingdescriptive music, the film also made Korngold aHollywood star. He signed a contract with WarnerBros. and over the next dozen years wrote fifteenscores that proved film to be an avenue for seriouscomposition. Among those scores, Korngold composedwhat most consider to be two other classics inthe realm of swashbucklers - The Adventures of RobinHood (1939) and The Sea Hawk (1940), both againstarring Flynn. Indeed, in the case of both Flynn andKorngold, Captain Blood was a matter of being in theright place at the right time with the right talents.Besides igniting Korngold's career in Hollywood,Captain Blood made it clear to filmmakers forgenerations to come that, to truly succeed, swashbucklingfilms demanded athletic scoring from mastercomposers. The films required throbbing love themesfor heroines viewed from afar, orchestral fireworks forany amount of dueling and swordplay, proper pompand circumstance to accompany persons of rank andprivilege and, finally, a measure of humor to addhumility to the swashbuckling heroes themselves.Some of the best swas
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Various
Various
Lully
